Remote areas of Western Australia had some of the youngest populations in Australia, according to a report released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The populations of Kimberley (Statistical Division, or SD), Pilbara (SD) and South Eastern Western Australia (SD) all had median ages between 28 and 31 years, compared to 35 years for Western Australia and 36 years for Australia as a whole.

The report used results from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing to describe the major differences in the socio-demographic characteristics of people living in different parts of Australia.

Some major findings of the report relating to Western Australia include:

Reflecting the young population, more than half the families in Pilbara (SD), Kimberley (SD) and South Eastern Western Australia (SD) had children under 15 years. These were among the highest proportions of all regions in the report.

The Kimberley (SD) region had the highest rate of population growth of the mixed urban/rural regions presented in the report, averaging 4.9% growth per year between 1996 and 2001.

Pilbara (SD) recorded one of the highestmedian household incomes in Australia, reflecting the high proportion of people employed in the mining industry.

The Kimberley (SD) regionhad one of thelowest rates of Internet use at home (14% of people), similar to otherremote areas.

Approximately one-quarter of the population in Pilbara (SD) stated that they had no religious affiliation, the highest level of any mixed urban/rural region.

Similar to other capital cities, approximately one-third of the population in each region in Perth was born overseas.

People born in the United Kingdom made up 14% of each of the populations of North Metropolitan Perth (Statistical Sub-Division, or SSD), South West Metropolitan Perth (SSD) and South East Metropolitan Perth (SSD), the highest concentrations of any region in this report.

Central Metropolitan Perth (SSD) had the second highest proportion of school students attending non-government schools of all regions presented in the report (57%).

Further information is in Census of Population and Housing: Australia in Profile - A Regional Analysis (cat. no. 2032.0).

Media Note:The report was based on ABS geographical areas called Statistical Divisions (SDs). However, to give more evenly sized regions, SDs in populous areas have generally been disaggregated to Statistical Sub-Divisions (SSDs) or Statistical Region Sectors (SRSs). Specifically, information is presented for 13 regions in Western Australia, including five in Perth.

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